Phillips v. Philip Morris Companies Inc.

298 F.R.D. 355, 2014 WL 809005, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25980
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedFebruary 28, 2014
DocketNo. 5:10CV1741
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 298 F.R.D. 355 (Phillips v. Philip Morris Companies Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Phillips v. Philip Morris Companies Inc., 298 F.R.D. 355, 2014 WL 809005, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25980 (N.D. Ohio 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

SARA LIOI, District Judge.

Before the Court is the motion of defendant Philip Morris USA Inc. (“PM USA”) for judgment on the pleadings. (Doc. No. 47.) Plaintiff opposes the motion (Doc. No. 60), and defendant filed a reply. (Doc. No. 62.) Also before the Court is plaintiffs motion for class certification. (Doc. No. 82.) Defendant [358]*358has filed an opposition (Doc. No. 85), and plaintiff has replied. (Doc. No. 87.) On October 30, 2013, the Court held a hearing on the motion for class certification, and, at the conclusion of the hearing, the Court took that matter under advisement.

I. Background

In this action, plaintiff Eva Marie Phillips1 alleges that defendant Philip Morris USA Inc.2 (“PM USA”) violated Ohio statutory and common tort law by advertising and selling cigarettes represented to be “Light” and as having “Low Tar”, or “Lowered Tar & Nicotine” when, in fact, the cigarettes in question had as much tar and nicotine as PM USA’s regular line of cigarettes. (Complaint, Doc. No. 1 at ¶¶ 5-6.)

According to the complaint, in the wake of emerging evidence on the dangers of cigarette smoking in the late 1960’s, cigarette manufacturers introduced “light” cigarettes to the public. (Doe. No. 1 at ¶ 5.) PM USA sold its version of light cigarettes in Ohio and throughout the United States under the brand name “Marlboro Lights.” (Id. at ¶ 4.) These light cigarettes promised to deliver less tar and nicotine than full flavored cigarettes, and plaintiff suggests that PM USA was banking on the public believing that this new product represented a safer and healthier smoking option. (Id. at ¶¶ 5-6.) In theory, these lower levels of harmful toxins were possible due, in part, to the microscopic holes in the cigarettes that would allow more tar and nicotine to escape into the air. (Id. at ¶¶ 36-37.)

Following the introduction of light cigarettes, the Tobacco Institute Testing Laboratory (“TITL”) began testing light cigarettes by using the Cambridge Filter System, whereby a machine attempted to mimic the act of smoking light cigarettes. (Doc. No. 1 at ¶¶ 31, 40; Declaration of Peter Valberg, Ph.D., Doc. No. 85-10 at ¶ 20.) This became known as the “FTC Method” because it was adopted by the Federal Trade Commission for testing the claims of manufacturers of light cigarettes. (Doc. Nos. 85-8, 85-9; Doc. No. 85-10 at ¶¶ 20-21.) By the FTC Method, the “inhaled” material was collected and analyzed to determine the amount of tar and nicotine that a smoker was believed to consume. (Doc. No. 1 at ¶ 40.) While the testing apparatus consistently registered lower tar and nicotine levels for light cigarettes than those found in traditional cigarettes, plaintiff suggests that the methodology was flawed because it did not take into account the fact that real smokers often unknowingly cover up the ventilation holes with their fingers and lips. Plaintiff maintains that PM USA was aware of the limitations of this testing method, and intentionally designed its light cigarettes to register artificially favorable testing measurements while in actuality still delivering as much if not more tar and nicotine to its customers. (Id. at ¶¶ 6, 8; Doc. No. 82-1 at 2655.)

Plaintiff further alleges that PM USA designed its light cigarettes in such a way that, even if consumers were able to avoid covering the ventilation holes, they would still be able to receive the same amount of tar and nicotine that they received with traditional cigarettes. Through a phenomenon known as “compensating,” consumers are subconsciously able to increase their tar and nicotine levels by increasing the puff volume or frequency, smoking more cigarettes, and smoking each cigarette longer. (Doe. No. 1 at ¶ 44; Doc. No. 85-10 at ¶¶ 2, 28; Declaration of Janette Greenwood, Ph.D., Doc. No. 85-17 at Section III, ¶ 19.) Plaintiff asserts that PM USA was aware that consumers tended to compensate when they smoked light cigarettes but intentionally withheld this information from the public.3 (Doc. No. 1 at ¶ 45.)

[359]*359On August 9, 2010, plaintiff filed the present action. This action was originally consolidated with multi-district litigation (“MDL”) proceedings in the District of Maine. (Doc. No. 85-29.) After analyzing several test cases, the MDL court issued an opinion denying certification in the exemplar cases, holding that individual issues including injury, causation, damages, and affirmative defenses defeated the predominance and superiority requirements found in Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(3). In re Light Cigarettes Mktg. Sales Practices Litig., 271 F.R.D. 402, 405 n. 2 (D.Me.2010). Following the First Circuit’s denial of interlocutory review, plaintiff obtained a remand to this Court. In re Light Cigarettes Mktg. Sales Practices Litig., 856 F.Supp.2d 1330 (J.P.M.L.2012).

Plaintiffs complaint contained statutory claims under the Consumer Sales Practices Act (“CSPA”), Ohio Rev.Code § 1345.01 et seq., and the Ohio Deceptive Trade Practices Act (“DTPA”), Ohio Rev.Code § 4165.01 et seq. Plaintiff also raised common law claims alleging fraud, express and implied warranty violations, and unjust enrichment. (Doc. No. 1.) In a memorandum opinion and order, dated March 21, 2013, the Court dismissed a portion of plaintiffs CSPA claim, and dismissed plaintiffs DTPA in its entirety. (Doc. No. 44.) By its motion for judgment on the pleadings, PM USA seeks dismissal of the class component of plaintiffs common law fraud and unjust enrichment claims. (See Doc. No. 47.)

Plaintiff does not seek to recover damages for any personal injuries that might have resulted from her use of PM USA’s light cigarettes. (Doc. No. 1 at ¶ 3.) Rather, she limits her economic recovery to recouping the purchase price of the cigarettes, suggesting that she did not receive what she paid for, namely, cigarettes with lower tar and nicotine. Plaintiff believes that PM USA unjustly profited from marketing its cigarettes as offering lower tar and nicotine, without delivering a product that lived up to the advertisements. She asks the Court to order PM USA to refund the purchase price or disgorge all revenue it received through the sale of these cigarettes. She further seeks an injunction to compel PM USA to adequately warn consumers of the dangers of smoking light cigarettes.4 (Doe. No. 1 at ¶10.)

Plaintiff brings this action on her own behalf, and on behalf of other similarly situated consumers of PM USA’s light cigarettes.5 Specifically, she seeks to certify the following class:

all persons who purchased [PM USA’s] Marlboro Lights Lowered Tar & Nicotine cigarettes in Ohio for personal consumption from the first date [PM USA] placed [its] Marlboro Lights Lowered Tar & Nicotine cigarettes into the stream of Ohio commerce, up to September 23, 2003.

(Doc. No.

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298 F.R.D. 355, 2014 WL 809005, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25980, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phillips-v-philip-morris-companies-inc-ohnd-2014.